fuel

All was calm on the streets of Bangkok by Wednesday evening after the army brought the situation under control and dispersed rampaging protestors who had brought anarchy to the capital. Bangkok is now considered safe to travel to, although several countries have yet to lift their travel advisory warnings for Thailand. The situation remains tense but the prostests have been called off, the streets have been cleared and the risk of violence has been greatly minimised. The State of Emergency remains, declared on Sunday evening after red shirted supporters of exiled pariah Thaksin Shinawatra forced the cancellation of the ASEAN+3 summit in Pattaya. After storming the venue, they turned their attention to Bangkok, where 10,000 of them blockaded key intersections and violently brought the city to a standstill demanding the resignation of the government. A peaceful quiet descended on the city Wednesday evening after a tense standoff between soldiers and the protestors throughout Tuesday, as 50 companies of soldiers gradually dispersed the crowds. Finally the leaders of the protest turned themselves in Wednesday morning and called off the protest, urging their ranks to return home. A small group of die-hard supporters mustered at Sanam Luang, near Khao San Road, refusing to go home, but were under close guard from the military. Armoured personnel continue to preside of key parts of the city to prevent further trouble. Meanwhile the airport remained busy and the annual Songkran festivities continued on Khao San Road and Silom avenue without hindrance or fear. Sporadic protests continue upcountry but are considered of no risk to tourists. Breaking news from [The Nation Newspaper](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/) 2009-04-16T18:46:00+07:00 1222 2009-04-16T18:58:52+07:00 5 true 1222-bangkok-streets-return-to-normal Andrew

One-2-Go, the budget airline involved in the Phuket air disaster last October, will stop flying on Tuesday July 22nd for six weeks. The decision is based mainly on the rising cost of jet fuel amid stiff competition, as well as the looming law suits from its air crash that left 79 dead. Described as financial restructuring for ‘damage control’ by CEO Udom Tantiprasongchai, the suspension will ground all eight MD80 jets that currently fly the Bangkok to Chiang Mai and Bangkok to Phuket routes. These ageing and noisy aircraft are particularly fuel inefficient and it has taken its toll on the five year old budget carrier. The airline is suffering from loss during advanced sales of tickets, as fuel surcharges have been rising by the week this year, making it difficult for them to compete with AirAsia and Nok Air. Their tickets are typically 15 per cent more expensive. The news comes just days after a US law firm announced it was leading a class action lawsuit against the airline and its insurance underwriter for failing to adequately compensate victims of the Sept 18 2007 air disaster that resulted from a crash landing in poor weather. The airline has already been sued in Thailand, the US and Britain. It was launched in 2003 as a budget subsidiary of the small Thai airline Orient Thai, which continues to fly to Hong Kong and Incheon, in addition to charter services. No clear announcement has been made about its 700 staff or compensation for advance ticket sales, the usual booking service on their website having been replaced by a single notice of suspension. [Orient Thai website]( http://www.orient-thai.com/) Contact numbers: (66) 2 229 4260 2008-07-21T06:26:00+07:00 785 2008-07-21T06:27:56+07:00 5 true 785-air-crash-airline-suspends-operation Andrew

With oil selling at record prices, many airlines have recently announced that they must [raise fuel surcharges on their flights](http://www.bangkokpost.com) to combat the unprecedented costs of fuel. Thai Airways is the latest major airline to announce that it will be raising the fuel surcharge on most of its flights. In an announcement by the company, it said the surcharge for international fights would increase by an average of 20% and for domestic flights the number would be about 15%. Thai Airways president Apinan Sumanaseni said yesterday that with fuel at record highs, the only way for the airlne to remain viable was to charge for the new gap in its operating costs. As it stands now, Thai’s surcharges on flights less than two hours long is $25, $30 for flights two to three hours long, $35 for four to eight hours, and $95 for long haul flights between 8 and 14 hours. Other carriers in Thailand can be expected to follow suit at any time. 2008-04-19T13:26:00+07:00 661 2008-04-24T13:27:42+07:00 7 true 661-thai-airways-will-raise-fuel-surcharge DaveB